Old photos of Datong, Shanxi in 1937

The old photo of Shanxi Datong in 1937 was taken from the Oriental Library

Datong, a city under the jurisdiction of Shanxi Province, is one of the national famous historical and cultural cities, one of the nine ancient capitals in China, an excellent tourist city in China, a national garden city, and a capital of Chinese sculpture

Datong is located in the center of the Datong Basin in the north of Shanxi Province, at the junction of Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia, and at the northeast edge of the Loess Plateau. It is actually the barrier of the whole Shanxi Province, the gateway to the north, and the throat of Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia. To the north, it connects Erenhot, the largest port of China against Mongolia. It is a place of strategic importance for generations; North Key” It is called

Datong was called Yunzhong and Pingcheng in ancient times. It was the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty and the capital of Liao and Jin Dynasties. There are many historic sites in Datong, including Yungang Grottoes, Huayan Temple, Shanhua Temple, Hengshan Hanging Temple, Nine Dragon Wall, etc

What was Datong like in 1937? Let’s have a look

四牌楼附近的街景，牌楼上书写‘永泰街’三个大字，此处人来人往商业繁华啊。

四牌楼位于山西省大同市旧城中心，由四个相连的牌坊组成的建筑。四牌楼建于明代洪武年间，当时大将军徐达受命修筑大同城，为壮军威、颂功德，在城中心修筑了这座建筑。

大同古城的城门，城墙依旧在，但是城楼早就不存，城门洞上一片残垣。

大同古城墙上远眺城内。

此城墙为明洪武五年（1372年），大将军徐达奉命增筑，东西长1.8公里，南北长1.82公里，周长7.24公里，面积3.28平方公里。

从城楼上远眺的城市风貌，重楼高阁，排列整齐且气度森然。

大同华严寺大雄宝殿。

华严寺是辽道宗耶律洪基于清宁八年（即公元1062年）建立，寺名取自佛教《华严经》之经名。曾经为辽国皇族寺庙。后毁于战争，金天眷三年（1140年）重建。

华严寺大雄宝殿内的经幢与铁炉，经幢在佛教中在石柱上刻有经文，片中后方的经幢建于辽道宗时代，前方的铁炉建于明万历年间。

梳妆楼，此楼为著名的辽代萧太后外出而建的驻所。在城内西北处，是大同城最高点。

九龙壁。朱元璋的十三子朱桂，被封代王于大同，在王府中筑此壁，竟然保存的这么完整。位于山西大同市平城区东街路南，

大同古城墙，已经破烂不堪。